"She was such a badass," boyfriend Jason Hess tweeted. "She's going to be on Jeopardy next Tues (12/13). Y'all should watch." (Jason Hess)

(Newser)
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Next Tuesday's Jeopardy will feature a contestant whose lifelong dream was to appear on the show—but who didn't live long enough to see herself on TV. Cindy Stowell, a science content developer from Austin, Texas, was diagnosed with cancer between passing the online contestant test and being invited to appear for an audition in Oklahoma City this summer, CNN reports. She told a producer that doctors believed she only had around six months to live, but she still might be able to appear on the show. She was asked to attend the audition, and after she passed it the show put her in the first available slot on Aug. 31.

Stowell, who asked for her winnings to be given to cancer research, died Monday morning. When she appeared on the show, only host Alex Trebek and a few staffers knew she was ill. "When Cindy Stowell taped her appearance on Jeopardy, she had stage 4 cancer. Competing on Jeopardy was a lifelong dream for Cindy, and we're glad she was able to do so," Trebek said in a statement. Her boyfriend, Jason Hess, is encouraging people to watch the show. "She was very intelligent and paired with a sense of humor. It made her fun to be around," he tells the New York Daily News.